Garryhinch ambush
| Garryhinch ambush | |
|---|---|
| Part ofThe Troubles | |
 Laois-Offaly border where the ambush happened | |
| Location | Garryhinch,County Offaly,Ireland |
| Date | 16 October 1976 (UTC) |
Attack type | Booby-Trap Bomb |
| Deaths | OneGardakilled |
| Injured | Four Gardaí badly injured |
| Perpetrator | Provisional Irish Republican Army(IRA) |
TheGarryhinch ambushwas a surprise attack on theGarda Síochánaby theProvisional IRAon 16 October 1976. A bomb planted by the IRA in a farmhouse at Garryhinch on theCounty Laois-County Offalyborder in theRepublic of Irelandwas detonated.[1]Garda Michael Clerkin was killed in the blast, and four other Gardaí at the scene were badly wounded.[2]The incident was one of the few occasions duringThe Troubleswhen police officers in the Republic of Ireland were deliberately targeted.[3]
Ambush
[edit]On the night of 16 October 1976, the Gardaí received an anonymous telephone call stating that Provisional IRA members were at a vacant farm at Garryhinch, nearPortarlington, County Laois,engaged in activity connected with a plot to target a localFine GaelTDand Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Defence,Oliver J. Flanagan.Garda (equivalent rank toconstablein other police forces) Clerkin and four fellow Gardaí (Detective Garda Tom Peters, Sergeant Jim Cannon, Detective Garda Ben Thornton, and Garda Gerry Bohan)[4]were dispatched from Portarlington Garda Station to investigate the report.[5]However, the telephone call was bogus and was from the IRA itself, aimed at luring Garda officers to the farmhouse as a part of a planned ambush by the organisation against the Irish Government in retaliation for its institution of the 'Emergency Powers Act' (1976), which passed into Irish Statute that same night, aimed at combating escalating paramilitary activity within theRepublic of Irelandassociated with the IRA'sarmed campaign.[6][7]
Garda Clerkin, despite being an ordinary uniformed and unarmed garda, entered the premises via an open rear window, and moved through the building finding it to be apparently deserted; he opened the front door from within to admit his colleagues. The door wasbooby-trappedwith abomb,housed in a large usedpropane gascylinder which had been dug into the ground beneath the floorboards of the farmhouse's entrance doorway, which was triggered and detonated upon the door being opened, killing Clerkin standing directly above instantly. On the building's outside, the rest of the Garda team were also caught in the blast, Detective Garda Peters being permanently blinded and deafened, and Det. Gda. Cannon, Det. Gda. Thornton and Garda Bohan also being wounded, the quantity of explosives utilised being of sufficient power to demolish the building.[8]Clerkin was in his 25th year.
Aftermath
[edit]The incident triggered a political crisis between the executive andPresidentCearbhall Ó Dálaigh,prompted by his earlier referring of the Emergency Powers bill to theSupreme Court.The Minister for Defense at the time,Paddy Donegan,calledHis Excellencya "thundering disgrace".[9][10][11]President Ó Dálaigh resigned on 22 October "to protect the dignity and independence of the presidency as an institution".[12]
The remains of Garda Michael Augustine Clerkin's body were buried at Latlurcan Cemetery in his hometown ofMonaghanin the north ofCounty Monaghan.[13]
Although there were a number of arrests by the Garda in an intensive search across the Laois-Offaly district for the perpetrators of the ambush, which resulted in a signed confession from a prime suspect, no one has ever been convicted or brought to trial for it.[14]
A memorial Mass for Clerkin on the 40th anniversary of the attack was held in Portarlington on 16 October 2016.[15]
Michael Clerkin was awarded the Garda'sScott Medalposthumously on 8 December 2017 in a ceremony at theGarda Síochána CollegeatMcCan BarracksinTemplemore,County Tipperary.[16]A memorial plaque was erected to his memory in his home town of Monaghan in June 2018.[17]
See also
[edit]Sources
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"Gardai in IRA ambush that left one dead are honoured for bravery, 41 years later".BelfastTelegraph.co.uk.13 November 2017.ISSN0307-1235.Retrieved7 March2024.
- ^Power, David (8 December 2017)."Victims receive bravery medals 40 years after Garryhinch bomb".Laois Today.Retrieved7 March2024.
- ^'R.T.E. got it wrong about the Clerkin case - I know because I was there', 'Herald.ie.', 26 August 2009.http:// herald.ie/opinion/columnists/gerry-ocarroll/rte-got-it-wrong-about-the-clerkin-case-and-i-know-because-i-was-there-27922536.html
- ^"Clerkin, Michael Augustine".Garda.Retrieved7 March2024.
- ^Ganly, Conor."Gardaí blown up in IRA attack in Offaly that killed a colleague to be honoured for bravery today".offalyexpress.ie.Retrieved7 March2024.
- ^"electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB)".irishstatutebook.ie.Retrieved7 March2024.
- ^'R.T.E got it wrong about the Clerkin case - I know because I was there', 'Herald.ie', 26 August 2009
- ^Garda ar La,R.T.E.1, Programme 4, 'Garda Michael Clerkin', 9 February 2009.
- ^Don Lavery, correspondent for theWestmeath Examiner,RTE This Week, 22 October 2006Archived4 May 2007 at theWayback Machine
- ^Lavery, Don (6 January 2007)."My part in downfall of a President over the 'thundering disgrace' debacle".Irish Independent.Archivedfrom the original on 17 October 2012.Retrieved18 November2011.
- ^O'Toole, John; Dooney, Sean (24 July 2009).Irish Government Today.Gill & Macmillan Ltd.ISBN9780717155347.Archivedfrom the original on 12 September 2021.Retrieved25 November2020– via Google Books.
- ^Joseph Lee,Ireland, 1912–1985: Politics and Society,Cambridge University Press, 1989,ISBN0-521-37741-2p. 482
- ^19 October 2016, 'Buried alive Garda remembers miracle escape from fatal IRA bomb', 'The News Letter' (Pub. Belfast)https:// newsletter.co.uk/news/buried-alive-garda-remembers-miracle-escape-from-fatal-ira-bomb-1-7634730
- ^Gerry O'Carroll,'RTE got it wrong about the Clerkin case - I know because I was there', 'Herald.ie.' 26 August 2009.
- ^"I want Adams to apologise for IRA bomb that killed friend, says garda".Independent.ie.19 October 2016.Retrieved7 March2024.
- ^"Gardaí honoured for bravery 41 years after IRA ambush".The Irish News.9 December 2017.Retrieved7 March2024.
- ^'Plaque unveiled to remember Garda Michael Clerkin, 'Northern Sound' Radio, 13 June 2018.http:// northernsound.ie/plaque-unveiled-remember-garda-michael-clerkin/Archived4 July 2018 at theWayback Machine
- Improvised explosive device bombings in the Republic of Ireland
- Provisional Irish Republican Army actions
- Terrorism deaths in the Republic of Ireland
- Terrorist incidents in Europe in 1976
- History of County Laois
- October 1976 events in Europe
- Ambushes in Ireland
- 1976 in the Republic of Ireland
- 1970s disasters in Ireland
- Improvised explosive device bombings in 1976